HIQA inspection results for four International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres have been released showing issues in relation to Garda vetting, overcrowding, potential risks to safety, and pest control issues.
HIQA said it “found varying levels of compliance across the four centres visited. There were examples of good practice observed in a number of centres, but inspectors identified some common issues, particularly in relation to governance and management, risk management, safeguarding and promoting basic human rights.”
The inspections were carried out in order to assess whether the centres – which are funded by the taxpayer through the Department of Integration led by Minister Roderic O’Gorman – were compliant with the National Standards for accommodation offered to people in the protection process (2019)
While two of the centres, Hanratty’s Hotel in Limerick and The Hazel Hotel in Kildare returned mostly positive results, this was not the case for Knockalisheen Accommodation centre in Clare, or St. Patrick’s Accommodation Centre in Monaghan.
Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre, County Clare
An announced inspection was carried out at Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre in County Clare, which is run by Aramark, which at the time of inspection housed 276 people including 35 children from 27 different countries of origin.
The inspection was carried out on the 31/1/2024 and the 1/2/2024 by a team of inspectors.
The accommodation centre comprises six accommodation blocks, two of which are for families, with the remaining four being allocated to single males.
Tented accommodation is also in place on the exterior of the centre which housed 52 males at the time of inspection.
HIQA found that the tented accommodation on the site did not provide for privacy, dignity, or human rights of the men living there with reports that the tents were cold and noisy.
The report states that, “Residents’ rights to privacy and dignity were not upheld as there was no space for residents to get dressed in private and no privacy screens between beds.”
“Facilities within the tents were not adequate. For example, residents did not have any storage facilities and their belongings were on the floor. Some belongings were observed by the inspectors to be damp and wet. Inspectors observed the tents shaking and loudly vibrating in the wind and there was no means of securing the entrance to the tent.”
“The conditions of their living area posed potential risks to their health, safety and welfare” it said.
The report also found that “Adequate facilities were not provided for residents to cook in tandem with the catering option and as a result, some residents were cooking and storing food in their rooms.” It was also stated that limited dining area opening times where residents had to ask staff for food external to these hours “did not promote their dignity”.
Laundry facilities also found to be “not adequate” to cater for the number of residents at the facility with nine working washing machines and nine dryers available to all 278 residents.
The report says that a significant number of residents spoke of feeling unsafe in the facility, “Some spoke about feeling unsafe at times, due to incidents occurring in the centre or not wanting to leave their room after dark.”
“Residents told inspectors that they had observed incidents on a regular basis relating to drug use, alcohol use and aggressive behaviours but there were no records relating to such incidents. These risks had not been assessed and therefore actions to mitigate the risks from reoccurring were not in place.” it said.
Management style at the facility also fell short of national standards with the inspectors stating that “There was no risk management policy to guide the management of risk within the service. While there was a risk register and some risk assessments completed, numerous risks identified by inspectors had not been considered or assessed. These included risks to residents’ health, safety and welfare, promotion of human rights and fire safety.”
Issues related to a lack of Garda vetting and international police checks were also found at the Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre as well as another centre called Hanratty’s Hotel, although the latter performed significantly better on the inspectors’ compliance list.
“From a review of staff records, inspectors found that not all staff had Garda Síochána (police) vetting in accordance with the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. Inspectors issued an urgent compliance plan to ensure all staff were vetted appropriately and sought written assurances that adequate supervision was in place for those staff carrying out their roles, who did not have the required Garda vetting.” it said.
“Recruitment practices were not sufficiently safe or effective. Garda vetting was not in place for a number of staff and international police checks had not been carried out for some staff members who lived overseas for a period of six months or more, as required.”
“Updated Garda vetting was required for other staff members and a policy had not been developed for managing the outcome of the vetting process where potential risks were identified. Inspectors issued an urgent compliance plan and requested the service provider to ensure appropriate supervision arrangements were in place for those staff members who did not have vetting while their application was being processed. Employment references were not available on a sample of staff files reviewed.”
At the time of inspection eleven of the staff team did not have mandatory training in Children First (2017).
The report says that there was “an ineffective risk management system in place in the centre which had not considered many of the risks relating to the health, safety, welfare and human rights of residents.”
“Inspectors found multiple incidents where basic rights related to respect, privacy, safety and dignity were not promoted or safeguarded.” it said.
There were some residents with known special reception needs living at the centre with the report stating that the Department of Integration had not made these special reception needs known to the accommodation provider prior to the arrival of these individuals at the centre.
“This inspection found that the service had deficits across all ten themes of the national standards. The under-developed governance arrangements meant that deficits relating to risk management, record keeping, safeguarding and complaints management had not been identified by the service provider, and therefore went unaddressed.”
St. Patrick’s Accommodation Centre, County Monaghan
St. Patrick’s Accommodation Centre in County Monaghan was also inspected by a HIQA team led by inspector Godfrey Mushongera on 31/1/2024 and the 1/2/2024.
The centre which is run by Tattonward Limited was occupied by 338 residents including 155 children at the time of the inspection.
This inspection was also announced.
St. Patrick’s caters for families, couples, single females, and single males with the report stating that “all residents had own-door accommodation, and at the time of the inspection, there were 25 studio bedrooms, adjoining bedrooms for families and 29 two-bed modular family units.”
A two storey main building housed the administrative offices, living quarters for residents, communal kitchens, and laundry facilities. Additionally, an annex building provided living quarters for residents, and several multi-purpose rooms were reserved for the gym, religious services, a TV room and a playroom for children.
However there was “evidence of overcrowding” in the centre with some children sharing beds with adults. A family of five with a new baby on the way were found to be sharing a small area. “There was no space for a crib for a newborn and the service provider did not have a larger room to offer this family.” the report says.
Pest control issues were also discovered, with an instance recorded in which a child was “admitted to hospital as a direct result of the presence of pests” in their family accommodation.
Centre records showed that this was ongoing for some time and that although the centre had contacted a pest control agency, this had been “ineffective in the longer term”.
“There was no system in place by the service provider to monitor this risk and to ensure a consistently safe and comfortable living environment was provided to residents at all times.” the report said.
The report noted that while the primary function of the centre was to provide accommodation to people seeking international protection, “the reality was that 106 (30%) residents had received refugee, subsidiary protection status, or humanitarian leave to remain.”
Issues relating to the recruitment procedure of staff in the centre were flagged here where these “were not safe or effective” with “no Garda Vetting checks completed for some staff and no police checks available for some other staff members employed in the centre who had periods of residence outside Ireland”.
“In many cases, no application forms or work histories were recorded for staff members” and “there was no evidence that security staff had completed Children’s First training and that they had been vetted by An Garda Síochana, in line with national policy.”
While staff members employed in the centre had completed some training, the inspectors found that this primarily related to areas such as child protection, fire safety, child trauma training, manual handling, HACCP, and health and safety.
However, areas of training in mental health, domestic and gender-based violence were inadequate. No member of staff had attended training on first aid, human trafficking, disability, anti- bullying, conflict resolution, self-awareness, and person-centred service provision as required by the national standards.